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No. 62|,756. Patented Mar. 2|, I899. G. F. KNIGHT.

BUCKLE.

(Application filed ca. 10, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CURTIS F. KNIGHT, OF URIOH, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAMWV. MORLAN, OF SAME PLACE.

BUCKLE.

SBECIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,756, dated March21, 1899. I

Application filed October 10, 1898. Serial No. 693,150. (No model.)

To-aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CURTIS F. KNIGHT,a citizen of the United States,residing at Urich, in the county of Henry and State of Missouri, haveinvented a new and useful Buckle, of

Y which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buckles, particularly to harness-buckles, andhas for its object to provide a guard for the tongue of the buckle toprevent the latter from becoming accidentally raised or entangled in thehairs of the tail or mane of the animal.

To attain this result, the invention consists in the construction andcombination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improved bucklewith the guard in raised position. Fig. 2 is a top plan view with theguard closed or seated upon the tongue. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalView taken on the line {13 00, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsectional view thereof.-

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawlugs.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the frame of thebuckle, having a round cross-bar 2 provided near one end of the frameand a flat cross-bar 3 near the other end thereof. The round cross-baris arranged in a plane above .that of the fiat cross-bar, the framebeing curved, as shown, to accomplish this result. A tongue 4 is hingedto the crossbar 2 in the usual manner, and its free end is seated in anotch 5, formed in the upper face at the inner edge of the flat crossofthe buckle.

bar. A guard 6 in'the form of an approximately U-shaped loop is hingedto the round cross-bar at each side of the tongue 4 and is of a width tofit withinv the sides of the frame The innersides of the frame aregrooved or channeled out, as at 7, which extend from the round cross-barto the flat cross-bar,wl1ere the groove is continued-across the latterbar, as at 8, intersecting the notch 5 and forming a continuous seat forthe guard 6.

In threading the strap 9 through the buckle, as shown in Fig. 4, theguard is raised, as in Fig. 1, and the strap is passed over the.end

bar 10, under the cross-bar 2, when it is engaged by the tongue 4, whichis then seated in the notch 5. The end of the strap is then passedupward between the side bars 11 of the loop-guard 6, which is thenseated in the.

grooves 7,.and the strap is passed over the end 12 of the guard and thefiat cross-bar and underneath the end bar 13 of the buckleframe. WVhenthe strap has thus been threaded through the buckle, it engages over thetop of the guard and holds it in place, which in turn bearing againstthe tongue prevents it from being accidentally raised, and the strapcovers the end of the tongue and precludes the possibility of saidtongue from being caught in the hairs of the tail or mane of the animalor any part of the harness.

By reason of the strap passing over the free end of the guard, downwardat opposite sides thereof, and beneath transverse bars of the frame adownward pressure is exerted upon the loop by a strain in eitherdirection of the length of the strap, and therefore the guard iseffectually held in place and upon the tongue. In releasing the buckleit is simply necessary to swing the guard upward, carry= ing theunconfined end of the strap therewith, and the latter can then bereadily disengaged. It will be noted by reference to Figs. 3 and 4 thatthe-guard does not project above the plane of the top of thebuckle-frame, which thus presents a comparatively smooth and unbrokensurface.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of this invention, and therefore I do not wish to beunderstood as limiting myself to the precise construction andarrangement of parts as herein too tongue and bear upon the latter, theguard being adapted to receive the strap over the In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in 10the presence of two witnesses.

CURTIS F. KNIGHT. Witnesses:

S. P. RAY, E. A. PUGH.

